Dance with me?
by ToxicJJ
Summary: Just another stupid Stars Hollow event or a chance for two people to finally see what's right in front of them? LL Set in mid season 4. Just a fluffy way in which they could have gotten together. Chapter 4 up!
1. The Announcement

Disclaimer: Luke, Lorelai, or any other character in this story belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino et al. I'm just borrowing them for a little while. I'm sure they won't mind.

A/N: This is my first ever GG or any other show fanfiction, so please be kind. Also, I have nowhere near as much wit as ASP does in her dialogues, so if you find Lorelai, Rory or Luke a bit out of character it's just me attempting to be funny but not succeeding, OK?

Oh, and lastly, I would like to dedicate this to my MSN gang (y'all know who you are): Anne, Ana, Jen andJo because... well, just because. 'K, I'm done rambling, on with the story

* * *

Lorelai Gilmore slipped quietly into Miss Patty's Dance Studio, very, very late for the town meeting, as usual. Not that she cared, though. Getting there late meant annoying the hell out of Taylor, and could easily rank as one of her hobbies, right next to drinking coffee and having movie nights with Rory. This time, however, no one noticed her lateness. Everyone seemed to be quite immerse in what Taylor was saying, so she quickly sat down in an empty chair next to Luke Danes, the owner of the diner she practically lived in, and tried to catch on what was being said. However, it wasn't long before she realized she couldn't understand a word of what Taylor and a guy in the front row were discussing, so she gently tapped Luke's shoulder.

"Luke?", she called quietly. "I'm lost. What are they talking about?"

"It's just Taylor", he answered in the usual gruff manner she was already used to. "What do you think he's talking about?"

Lorelai gasped in mock surprise. "Don't tell me he assembled us here just to tell us about the new town rule that he just dreamt about, which is funny considering how Taylor looks awfully similar to a pig."

Luke looked at her, utterly confused. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, duh, 'Animal Farm', of course! It's this movie about a farm with talking animals that's actually and allegory to what happened in a war or a revolution or something and at the beginning there's a pig. . ."

Luke rolled his eyes. "I don't need a full recap, thank you. I just wanted to make sure you hadn't lost your mind and started talking about pigs for no reason at all."

"Your undying concern touches me"

"Well that's good to know. Anyways, Taylor's not announcing a new town rule, he is announcing a new town event".

Lorelai's eyes finished losing the little interest she'd been having in what Taylor might have to say to them. "Another one of his famous events? I'm so out of here, he won't even let me participate. Remember what happened at the Festival of Living Art?"

"Actually, I think this is kind of different from that Festival", Luke said.

"Really? How?", asked Lorelai.

"This is some sort of dance"

"Dance?" Lorelai asked again, very confused. The only event that took place in Stars Hollow regarding dance was the Annual Dance Marathon, and that wasn't it, because Taylor wouldn't have called a town meeting to tell them about an event they already knew.

"Yeah", replied Luke. "Like a formal or something like that. You know, of those which you bring a date and dress up in a suit and all that stuff."

"Really?", Lorelai asked, her eyes lighting up instantly. "Wow, that has been Taylor's best idea so far. So when is it?"

"Next Saturday night. That gives people about a week to get a date which is not much time, so I guess it is not Taylor's best idea so far. In fact, I seriously doubt if Taylor will ever have a good idea."

Lorelai smiled at him. "What are you talking about? A week is more than enough time to get a date for the dance. I'm definitely in."

Taylor had evidently stopped talking and adjourned the meeting by now because the people were starting to get up and leave the studio. Luke and Lorelai did the same and started heading almost simultaneously towards the diner, he to serve the customers and she to have dinner. "So, who are you going to ask?" He tried to sound casual, like a friend asking another friend who they were taking to the prom. She had said she was definitely going, so she had to take someone with her and he desperately wanted to know if there were any new men in the horizon. He even had the tiniest bit of hope that she would ask him to go with her. Or even he might have the courage to ask her to go with him. But wait, what was he thinking? He was married, for God's sake, he'd even gotten an apartment with Nicole, so what was he doing thinking about Lorelai?

The truth was, Luke couldn't get Lorelai out of his head, not even when he was with Nicole. As much as he liked her, he had never been able to love her as much as he knew he loved Lorelai. That made him feel guilty sometimes, but he couldn't control his feelings, even when he knew that Lorelai wasn't ever going to notice him as more than just a friend. That was the reason he decided to marry Nicole. That was the reason he had asked her out in the first place. Still, he couldn't help stealing glances at Lorelai when she was sitting at the diner, with or without Rory; and his heart couldn't help performing a triple mortal every time she got too close to him or she even just looked at him with those amazing blue eyes of hers that made him forget what he was doing every time they rested on him.

Like right now, during their brief walk to the diner. Luke tried to ignore his nervousness as he waited for an answer to his question. "I don't know yet, but I have a week, it's plenty of time". It was fine for her to say that, she could get any man she wanted with just a flip of her hair and a simple smile. That's how she got him, although she didn't know that. "What about you?", she asked Luke. "Are you even going to show up selling coffee of something?" Se chuckled, remembering the Dance Marathon, when she had considered him to be his partner but he had denied it violently.

"I don't know, this is different. I could go with Nicole, although she's probably going to be out of town this weekend, so I don't know". Lorelai flinched at the mention of Nicole's name. She didn't know why, but every time she was brought up a rock fell really hard on her stomach and she desperately wanted to change the subject. She didn't know why she didn't like her, she just knew that there was something about Nicole that didn't seem right and that she definitely wasn't supposed to be with Luke. Luke didn't deserve her.

Anyway, she was saved the trouble of looking for an answer that did not involve a scowl because they arrived at the diner. Luke opened the door and she entered and settled down at a table by the window. Luke walked behind the counter. Several customers started to arrive too. Lorelai stared out the window, dreamily. She suddenly forgot about Luke and Nicole and how mad she had felt a few moments ago because she started thinking about her date to the dance. Although she had told Luke she didn't know who she was going to ask, she had already come up with a name, a man that she knew would be willing to go with her and with whom she knew she was going to have a great time. Jason Stiles. They had started dating a few months back and she felt very comfortable with him. A smile appeared on her face as she thought about him but she was immediately zipped back into reality when she heard some voices shouting in the background. Luke, as usual, was arguing with Kirk for some reason she couldn't quite understand. It was a good thing she didn't think of telling him who she was planning to ask to the dance. Luke's day would have sucked even more.


	2. The Dumping

Disclaimer: Once again, not mine. And I don't think ASP will get a lot out of me if she decides to sue.

A million thanks to everyone that reviewed:D You are the ones thatmake me want to continue posting this story. :)

So without further ado, I give you...

* * *

"A dance?", Rory's voice asked, a few miles away in her dorm room at Yale. 

"Yeah, a dance", Lorelai confirmed, while rummaging around her closet.

"Huh, that's weird, I never thought Taylor was the kind of person that would organize and event like that one".

"You and me both, sister. . . Ouch!", she screamed loudly and Rory heard a loud thud at the other end of the line.

"Mom? What happened?", she asked, concerned.

"Nothing, just this insanely big baseball bat just fell off from the top of the closet. What is a baseball bat doing in my closet, anyways? Although, now that I think about it, it could really come in handy during Friday night dinners".

"Why are you rummaging around your closet so desperately in the first place?"

"How do you know I was doing it desperately?"

"Well, a baseball bat just fell off from the top, you must have been doing a lot of movement, unless a wicked house-elf decided to have some fun and throw it out at the first person to open the door".

"Hmm, are you sure about that last statement?", she said and with a hissing voice she added "My prrrreciousssss".

Rory rolled her eyes, unimpressed. "That's Gollum. He's not a house-elf".

"Oh, well, big deal, he's little and talks in a weird voice too, enough for me".

"I'm officially declaring the topic of house-elves closed for the sake of my sanity. I can't do much for yours at this point. Why were you rummaging so desperately in your closet, I repeat?".

Lorelai sighed. "I was looking for the dress I wore to your coming out party, but I can't find it. It looks like I'm gonna have to buy myself a new one."

"Whoa, whoa, slow down for a minute", said Rory, confused. "You're saying you're actually going to this dance?"

"Um, yeah, didn't I mention that?"

"I don't think so! Who are you going to go with?"

"Well, I was thinking I'd ask Jason to go with me, cause, you know, we're dating, so it's only appropriate. Plus he's never really been to Stars Hollow before and, well, it could be fun".

"Wow, sounds like you've got it all figured out. I didn't know you were so serious about Jason".

"It's not like I'm so serious about him, it's just perfect timing, the dance and our relationship", said Lorelai, a bit taken aback by Rory's clearly disappointed tone, but she resolved not to say anything for fear of sparking a very obvious conversation that she didn't want to have at that particular moment regarding a certain diner guy.

"Yeah, sounds reasonable". As if on cue with her mother, Rory decided to drop the subject of Jason at least for the moment. She didn't want to deal with a Lorelai that was so clearly soaked up to her neck in denial.

"You should come too, it would give you a chance to, you know, get back at Taylor for making you look like the evil Witch from the West when he opened his Soda Shoppe, remember?"

Rory shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I don't know, mom, I mean, who would I go with? Cause I can't just show up alone to that kind of things".

"Well, this would be a great opportunity to socialize and meet more boys at Yale. How about that guy you dated a while ago, Trevor?"

"Um, no thank you, I don't think he will ever want to go with me anywhere after my so very interesting analysis of urine mints", Rory shuddered at the memory.

"Ooh, how about Naked Guy?", Lorelai smiled excitedly. She would love it if Rory was able to come, they hadn't seen each other in a while.

"He has a name, mom, I already told you", Rory said, exasperated, although not hiding a smile.

"Well, how about him?"

Rory hesitated. "I don't know, it's not such a bad idea now that I think about it".

"See? That's the spirit I want to see in any daughter of mine. Just think about it and let me know what your final answer is, OK?"

"OK, bye mom, love you"

"Love you too, kid, bye". Lorelai hung up and went back to her wardrobe crisis. She finally gave up when she couldn't find that dress anywhere and decided that it was time to pay the mall a little visit.

Finally, the day of the dance arrived. Lorelai made a break in her busy schedule at what was going to be the Dragonfly Inn to head over to Luke's diner for lunch. She always had a craving for his delicious cheeseburgers and her hourly cup of coffee. She was humming excitedly as she got out of her Jeep and walked towards the door. She had talked to Jason the day before and he had agreed to go with her, so now she was all set and ready for that night.

She pushed open the door and the small bell attached to it jingled quite loudly. Luke looked up from the coins he was counting at the cashier and his face almost broke into a broad smile when he saw her come in. It was unbelievable how much brighter and happier his day became just by seeing her come into the diner or exchanging a few words with her.

"Hi", she said, and sat down in one of the stools in front of the counter, dropping her purse next to her.

"Hey", he replied, as he wiped the spot in the counter right in front of her. "So, everything ready for tonight?"

"Pretty much, yeah. I got my dress, my shoes. . ."

"Date?", he asked, a bit too quickly and anxiously for it to pass unnoticed by her.

"Um, yeah, that too", she looked at him quizzically.

"And. . .", he prompted her to tell him who she was going with.

"Oh, it's just an old friend from summer camp", she replied, uneasily. She didn't know why, but she didn't want to tell Luke that she was actually dating that old friend. For some strange reason, she thought he wasn't going to take it too well, as if she was cheating on him.

"Summer camp?", he said, amused. "I never thought of you as a summer camp kind of girl".

"Ohh, I'm not, trust me. But, apparently, my parents did think of me as a summer camp kind of girl and, of course, when Emily Gilmore thinks she's right, she's got to be right or else heads will roll".

"I see", he chuckled. "Well, I hope you have fun with this. . . old friend", he stressed these last two words very carefully, trying to find out whether her date was indeed an old friend or there was something else.

"I hope so too", she smiled, ignoring or trying to ignore Luke's tone when he was referring to her "old friend".

"What can I get you?"

"Oh, you know, the. . .", but at that moment her cell phone rang. Luke pointed wordlessly to the door and Lorelai, exasperated, muttered "Fine, fine" and walked outside to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Before you say anything, just remember that you like it that I have these quirks, that they are what make me me", said a voice at the other end of the line.

"Jason?", Lorelai asked, a bit confused by this greeting. "What happened?"

"I'm very sorry, but I can't go to the dance with you tonight", he said in a clearly sorrowful tone.

"What?", she replied, utterly shocked. "Why?"

"I don't have a suit", he stated simply.

"You don't have a suit?", Lorelai asked, getting more exasperated by the minute. "What do you mean you don't have a suit? Jason, you go to work every day in a suit, you must have at least one that's clean enough to be used". She couldn't believe that Jason was actually considering dumping her the same day of the dance just because he couldn't find a suit.

"See, that's the thing, the suits I go to work with every day are work suits. They are not fancy enough to be worn to a dance like the one tonight".

"Well, don't you have a couple of dance suits or whatever it is you call the suits you go with to events outside work?"

"Um, yes, I do, but, unfortunately, they are both at the dry cleaner's and I won't get them back until tomorrow night".

Lorelai was ready to scream in exasperation. This couldn't be happening to her, not that day, of all days. "Can't you just wear one of your work suits just for tonight? I won't say anything, I promise, but if you're really concerned we can just sit at a table where the light is not shining directly over you and you can slither on the floor every time you want to go to the bathroom, which I certainly hope it's not too many if it's going to bring me bad 'Anaconda' flashbacks".

"I'm really sorry, Lorelai, but I just can't do it. I'll be fidgeting with the suit all night trying to make it appear fancier than it really is and I'll be turning my head sharply around every time anyone comes within 2 feet of me, I've been there before, and you won't have a good time".

"But, Jason, look where you're leaving me now! The dance will be in about 6 hours and now I don't have anyone to go with me!".

Jason's voice acquired an almost begging tone. "Have I mentioned how sorry I am about this? I am, I really am and I wish there was something I could do about this, but there isn't. I promise I'll make it up to you in as many ways as I can think of, but please, please forgive me".

Lorelai sighed. There was nothing she could do now to convince Jason. "Fine. It's OK, don't worry. I'll figure something out".

"Please, don't be mad", Jason pleaded.

"I'm not, bye Jason", she said abruptly and hung up. This was unbelievable. She never thought Jason would be capable of something like that. That is, she knew he had his quirks, they had cause her to sleep in a very well equipped room, but this was just too much. He had just ruined her Saturday night. Heavily, she walked back into the diner almost dragging her feet and took her seat at the same stool as before. She threw the cell phone on the counter a bit more forcefully than she had intended and sat there, staring into space, too mad to utter any coherent sentences.

Luke had been in the kitchen the whole time Lorelai was having her conversation with Jason, but now he came back out and saw her sitting at the counter, her eyes narrowing slightly, her breathing a bit loud and staring at a fixed spot on the wall. He took a second to make a mental note of how much more beautiful she looked when she was angry, before he came up to her and touched her arm slightly.

"Lorelai?", he said, gently shaking her arm. "Are you OK?"

Lorelai snapped out of her reverie and looked back at him with the same angry expression. "No. No, I'm not OK! Who does he think he is? I was counting on him and he was already committed to me, he can't just back out just because he couldn't find a suit, we're not going to meet the Queen, for God's sake!"

Luke was taken aback by this sudden outburst of Lorelai's. However, he now had an idea of what was it that had happened and it took him by surprise the wave of relief he felt wash over his whole body. Apparently, Lorelai had been dumped by her "old friend". Whoever he was, he was a jerk and clearly knew very little about how to treat a woman. He had now made Lorelai extremely angry and he hated to see her like this. Luke was going to make sure that this "old friend" paid for it.

"Wait, so your friend dumped you?", he asked tentatively, not sure whether there was going to be another outburst, this time at him.

Lorelai buried her face in her hands. "Yes, he dumped me, and for one of the most stupid reasons a person can get dumped. I'm seriously gonna e-mail Mr. Guinness as soon as I get home because I'm so starting a new world record."

"I'm sorry to hear that", he said, placing a mug of steaming coffee in front of her.

"Thanks", she said wearily, taking the mug in her hands and putting it to her lips. She wasn't even marvelling at the fact that Luke had given her coffee without her nagging him incessantly about it or him lecturing her about the different ways in which coffee could be turned in the next most dangerous lethal weapon, next to the atomic bomb, which clearly meant that her mood was lower than ever. Luke noticed this, and realized immediately that things were much more serious than he thought. He wanted to make things right for Lorelai, but couldn't think of anything that would make her feel any better if coffee didn't do the trick.

"Luke, what am I going to do now?", she asked in a slightly panicked voice. "The dance is tonight and I have no one to go with! I won't be able to go!"

The sound of complete despair transmitted in that last sentence was enough to get the wheels turning around in Luke's head, trying to find a solution for Lorelai's sudden problem. He couldn't stand seeing her feeling all defeated and frustrated when just minutes earlier she had been one of the most excited ones for the dance. Suddenly, an idea started to form in his head. He tried to push it away at first, because it was too good and perfect to be true. However, as the other possibilities started looking dimmer and dimmer by the minute, he decided that was the only option there was in order for Lorelai to still go to the dance. The thought of voicing it made his heart beat madly in his chest until it made it difficult for him to breathe. He took one last look at her and her saddened eyes, and managed to muster up all the courage he needed to say his next words.

"Um. . . You know. . . I. . . I could. . . go with you. Only if you want, though", he added hastily, not wanting her to feel that he was pressuring her.

Lorelai looked up from her mug at these words and gave Luke a bewildered look. Had she heard correctly? Was Luke actually asking her to go to the dance with him? She needed to get that straight. "What?", she asked softly.

"It was just a thought, I mean, that way you wouldn't have to miss the dance at all and it's better than going with some random guy from the street, but, anyway, ignore me, I'm just babbling", he finished lamely. Her eyes on his were starting to have their usual effect and he was in serious danger of burning himself with the coffee pot right behind him. The thought of Lorelai's rejection enhanced Luke's nervousness even more. He looked down, unable to meet her eyes and see rejection and pity written all over them.

"I'd love to", he heard, and looked back up immediately. Lorelai was smiling her trademark smile and there was a pleased look in her face that hadn't been there a minute before.

"Really?", he managed to let out once his pulse got back to normal.

"Sure! It will be fun! Plus, I'll get to brag that I was the one that got you to participate, very actively, I might add, in another one of those crazy town events that you so much claim to hate", she grinned mischievously.

"Ah, geez", he muttered, but deep down he smiled even broader than her. He couldn't believe he had actually gathered enough courage to do something he so secretly had wanted to do. And the outcome hadn't been bad at all.

"Well, Dancing Burger Boy, I have to get going, I have a meeting in about 10 minutes with Sookie and Tom at the inn", she said, gathering her things and standing up.

"Oh, well, I'll save you a cheeseburger, I'll get it to you later"

"Sounds good, thanks", she smiled again, making him temporarily unable to swallow. "What time are you picking me up?"

"Oh, uh, 8 sound good?", he stuttered.

"Perfect. And you do have a suit, right?", she paused in her way to the door.

Luke chuckled. "I think I can pull something from the depths of my wardrobe".

She gasped exaggeratedly. "Luke Danes has a wardrobe? How many flannel shirts have you got stored beneath the surface? Or you just lost count after reaching 1000?"

"Lorelai. . .", he warned her with his voice.

"You do know that suits are not made of flannel, right? Are you sure you'll be able to take such tremendous shock?"

He pointed to the door, indicating her to leave immediately or else. Lorelai could get really annoying sometimes, but it didn't stop his heart from sinking a bit when he saw her open the door.

"See you tonight!", she called and she was gone.

Luke leaned on the counter and sighed. How had he gotten himself involved in this again? He hated town events and most of all Taylor himself and now everybody was going to see him participating at this particular town event and they were not going to let him forget that as long as he lived. The only thing that made him look forward to that night was the thought of Lorelai in a tight, low-cut dress and the possibility of dancing with her. And with those cheerful thoughts flying around his head, he got back to work with a small smile he wasn't aware he was wearing.


	3. Dancing Lessons

Disclaimer: I don't even own the DVDs, so it's highly unlikely that I own the real thing.

A/N: I'm sorry I took so long in updating. blush This thing called real life sucks. But I'm here now and I hope y'all are too.

Thanks again to everyone for reviewing! You guys are the bestest. :D Special thanks to Pam for your kind words! You rock. And Anne, I'm here ;)

So this is probably the fluffiest and most important chapter of the story. I hope it's as good as all the other LL fics out there that inspired me to write my own fluff.

* * *

Luke rang Lorelai's doorbell promptly at 8:00 that night. He felt really uncomfortable and completely ridiculous in that suit. He wondered for the millionth time how on earth he had ended up in that situation. It involved the words "I could go with you", but he couldn't imagine how did those words manage to come out of his mouth, because he knew that he would never have agreed voluntarily to go to an event like that one. Then again, it hadn't been just any woman the one that had been dumped the same day of the dance. If it would have been so, Luke would just have felt sorry for her, whoever she was, and left it at that. However, it had been Lorelai, and Luke knew that when it came to her, he could end up doing the most unexpected and unpredictable things, just because she asked him to do them. Or sometimes not even because she asked. What else could he do? She hypnotized him and took away from him all the free will that he could possibly have. 

While he was lost in these thoughts, Rory opened the door. She was already dressed up and looked like she was ready to go, but Lorelai was nowhere to be seen.

"Hi, Luke", she said brightly. "Wow, you do look great on a suit"

"Don't even mention it", Luke answered gruffly and stepped inside the house. "Is your mom ready?" he asked, walking into the living room and standing by the stairs that led to the second floor.

"Um, well, she. . . she. . . she's on her way" Rory stammered. She had just checked on her mother about five minutes earlier and she hadn't even put on her dress.

Luke understood. "She won't be ready anytime soon, won't she?"

"Pretty much, yeah", Rory nodded and smiled. "But don't worry. Maybe if I tell her that you are here, she'll hurry up". She climbed a coupled of stairs and called her mother. "Mom! Luke's here!"

"Tell him he has to wait! I'm a lady, I can take all the time I want!", came Lorelai's muffled voice.

"Sorry, no such luck", Rory said compassionately.

"Here, let me try". Luke walked closer to the stairs. "Lorelai, I will deny you one cup of coffee for every extra minute you take in coming down here, starting now!"

Lorelai was silent for a minute and then came again her muffled answer. "I'll be right down!"

Rory smiled. "Wow, you sure know how to deal with her"

"Yeah, well, I've had lots of years of practice." They fell silent for a moment, which Luke used to straighten his shirt, coat and tie for the millionth time that night. Boy, he had never felt so uncomfortable and out of place in his entire life.

"Luke, relax, you look great, I promise", Rory said, seeing his discomfort.

"It's not just the suit", he said wearily.

"Then, what is it?"

"I am going to appear in a suit in a Stars Hollow public event, where people are actually going to see me wearing a suit. People like Kirk, Taylor or Miss Patty, who are completely convinced that I would never ever participate in an event like this, let alone show up wearing a suit because that is what I've been telling them for years. And now I am actually going to, not only participate in a town event doing more than just selling coffee, but I am also going to participate wearing a suit, and that is something they are not going to let me forget for the rest of my life, which God is going to make a very long time just to torture me!"

"But then why did you agree to go with my mom to the dance? I mean, if it made you feel really uncomfortable to go, then you could just have told her no. Believe me, she would have understood and asked somebody else, it wouldn't have been that big a deal"

Luke looked down, embarrassed. "Actually, your mom didn't ask me to go to the dance with her. I offered myself to go with her"

"What?", said Rory, completely surprised. She didn't see that one coming. Luke agreeing to go to a dance out of his own free will? Then again, Rory thought, it was her mother they were talking about. Luke could never say no to her.

"Yeah, well, she. . . she was really upset because she really wanted to go and now she couldn't, and I thought 'Hey, I have nothing better to do and Lorelai needs a date', so I offered myself. I didn't think at the moment of all the consequences. If I had, I wouldn't be here"

Rory smiled at him. "You really love her, don't you?"

Luke froze. Had she really asked him what he thought she'd asked him? What was he going to say? He definitely could not tell the truth. Rory was going to tell Lorelai and things between them would get awkward. And, obviously Lorelai didn't love him back, so it wasn't worth taking the chance.

He instead decided to change the subject. "How much longer do you think your mother will take?"

Rory smiled. She didn't even have to ask, she knew perfectly well that Luke loved her mother. She saw it in the way he looked at her and in the way he caved for every little thing she asked him to do, even if he didn't want to. She also knew that her mother had feelings for him too, but she hadn't realized it yet, and so she thought that this dance could be the perfect excuse for the feelings of the two of them to finally go out to the surface.

Right at that moment, Lorelai appeared at the top of the stairs. "Here I am!", she exclaimed. She started coming down the stairs, not looking at Luke or at Rory because she was very busy looking down at her shoes and trying to walk on them without tumbling down the stairs. "Rory, why the hell did you let me buy these horribly uncomfortable shoes? I mean, who on their right mind would buy them? One can barely walk, for God's sake!"

"If I remember correctly, you begged me to let you buy those shoes because you said you were meant to be together and that your life didn't make sense until that precise moment when you saw those shoes", Rory said, matter-of-factly. "You wouldn't take no for an answer so I decided to let you learn the hard way."

Lorelai looked at Rory warily. "Are you sure you are my daughter? Aren't you her evil twin sister?"

"If I were, where would the real Rory be?"

"Taking a very difficult and important exam at Yale because the evil twin sister forced Rory to take it pretending to be her and now she is here having fun while my dearest daughter is trapped in an exam room"

"Oh, so I have an evil twin sister that I don't know about and that goes to Yale too?"

"Yeah, sorry to break the news like that to you, honey, but I kicked her out of the house the moment she told me Emily Gilmore was her role model"

"You are not making any sense, those shoes do have a negative effect on you"

"Oh, yeah? Well this is all your fault. . ."

As the two Gilmore girls had this completely pointless conversation, Luke had stopped dead in his tracks. When he first heard Lorelai's voice at the top of the stairs, he looked up, planning to just give her a quick look and then turn back to fussing with the sleeves of his shirt. However, what he saw made it impossible for him to look back down. Lorelai looked stunning. Beautiful. She was wearing a long, red dress, a bit tight so that it brought out her perfect curves and with a little opening at the side, showing now and then her gorgeous legs. The two strips of her dress met at the back of her neck, so her back was completely bare. Her hair was curly, but her curls were not anywhere, like they usually were; they were beautifully done and arranged. He was totally speechless. He tried very hard to stop his eyes from lingering too long on her legs or on her cleavage, and while he was at it, Lorelai was already standing on the bottom step of the staircase, smiling at him. God, that smile. It looked even better on her tonight, it made her entire face glow. He had never thought she could be so beautiful.

Lorelai was also checking Luke out. She never thought the day would come when she would see him wearing a suit, freshly shaven, no baseball cap and smelling like cologne. No, wait, she _had_ seen him before like that, on Rory's graduation, and she was pretty sure that on other occasions too. Yet, it seemed like tonight it was the first time she really noticed him, how great he looked, how handsome he was. She was seeing him with other eyes, as a man, a man in whom she might be interested in, not just a friend. She was surprised at herself for having this kind of thoughts. I mean, he was Luke. Luke! The crazy diner man who always wore plaid shirts and a backwards baseball cap and whom she loved to tease and drive crazy. However, she found herself pondering whether those fights and arguments they constantly had were actually a form of flirting that they both did without even noticing.

They both fell silent for a moment, taking in each and every one of the other's features, noticing how great the other one looked. Rory sensed the tension and decided it was best to leave them alone.

"Um, Mom, I'm going to go to my room to, uh, finish my makeup", she said, which was complete rubbish, because she had already been done with it like an hour earlier. Anyway, she had serious doubts whether neither of them had listened to a word she had said.

Lorelai decided it was time to break the silence. "Hey, Luke"

Luke miraculously managed to find his voice: "Lorelai, you. . . you look very. . . beautiful", he blurted out, before he could stop himself. Uh-oh, he had said too much. He had to fix that last sentence. "I mean, beautiful in the sense that. ."

"Thank you", Lorelai cut him off, still smiling. "You look great too. I never thought the day would come in which I'd see you wearing a suit and no baseball cap. This is truly a Kodak moment, and that's why I brought my camera!" she smiled mischievously and took out her left hand, which, Luke hadn't noticed it before, was holding the camera.

He regained his senses immediately. "Oh, come on!"

"It's not that bad, it's just one picture. Besides, everyone is going to see you anyway, so what's the big deal?", she raised the camera to her face, and before he could say anything, she took a picture of him. She looked back at the camera to see how the photo had come out. "Wow", she laughed. "This is not one of your best poises"

"Can we go now?", he asked, exasperated. Lorelai had a way of getting to his nerves, no matter how beautiful she was.

"Not just yet, mister, we first have to practice."

"Practice. . ."

"Dancing, of course"

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"

"Hey! If I remember correctly, you offered yourself to go with me to the dance, which implies not only actually showing up at the dance but also doing the other things that people do at a dance, besides sitting down, eating and drinking. The most important of these things is, of course, dancing. Now, I know you probably are thinking right at this moment 'What is she thinking about? Is she crazy? Why are we going to do this at a dance?' but the truth is, Luke, that, believe or not, at a dance, people dance. I know it sounds unbelievable at this point, but trust me, you'll get over it."

"If I agree to practice dancing with you, will you shut up?"

"See? That was the whole point, to wear you out with my incoherent babbling. So, let's get to it"

Lorelai left her camera and her purse in the coffee table and took two steps closer to Luke, but he stayed where he was. The feeling of Lorelai that close to him and looking that good made him too nervous to move, whether backwards or forwards.

"Geez, don't look so frightened, I don't bite, in case you were wondering", she took another step closer to Luke, making his knees weaken. When she put her left arm on his shoulder, his heart was beating so fast that he was afraid she would feel it.

"OK, now give me your right hand". Luke raised his right hand. "Ooops, sorry, wrong hand. Give me your left hand". Luke raised his left hand instead and Lorelai held it with her right hand. It felt soft at Luke's touch. He had never held her hand like that before and he had to fight the urge to caress it softly with his thumb.

"OK, now put your right hand on my back", Luke placed his right hand immediately below her shoulder. The feeling of her soft, bare skin below his hand sent chills down his spine. Lorelai smirked. "No, Luke, lower". Luke lowered his hand about a millimetre. "Luke, I'm serious, your hand has to be lower"

"How much lower?", he asked, annoyed.

"Just lower. You'll know when to stop", she smiled mischievously again.

Luke had no choice but to do as he was told, otherwise they were going to stay there forever. He slowly slid his hand downwards along her back, not leaving it at any point, until he finally stopped and left it at a point in her low back.

Luke hadn't thought about what that simple action could cause in him. He just thought he would do it that way so that he accidentally didn't place it where he wasn't supposed to. However, as he slid his hand along Lorelai's back, he felt all the blood in his body rush up to his head and his breathing became heavier. He swallowed hard to stabilize himself so that Lorelai wouldn't notice. Once he had finished, he wanted desperately to do it again, to slide his hand along her back and her arms and her face over and over again, to pull her closer to him and kiss her with all the strength and passion he had stored in him throughout the years. Fighting this desire wasn't very easy for him. However, he tried his best to keep his cool.

Lorelai too, although Luke wouldn't have imagined it, had experimented similar sensations while Luke was running his hand down her back. Her heart suddenly started beating very fast and she felt as though Luke's hand was burning any part of her skin that it touched. This was unbelievable. How could she be feeling this? It was just Luke's hand, no big deal. And yet, she found herself almost wanting him to continue, to keep touching and caressing her. She was totally overwhelmed by these thoughts and fought desperately to drive them away from her so that Luke wouldn't notice the big effect his hand on her back had had in her.

They both fell silent for a moment again, trying to regain control of their feelings and emotions.

"OK, OK, that's good, that's. . . that's fine", Lorelai stammered. "We're done with the first part now, getting the positions right, and since I think we've mastered it, we should move on to the next part of the dancing lesson"

"Which is. . ."

"Actually moving. Now, I know that you are completely ignorant to everything that concerns dancing and that's why I am going to lead"

"Lead?"

"Just follow me and relax"

Lorelai started moving, first to the right and then to the left. She didn't just stay in the same place, she lead Luke across her living room, first slowly, then faster, twirling around the room. Luke at first had trouble knowing which way Lorelai was going to go next, but then he fell in the rhythm and it became easier to follow her lead. He was actually enjoying it, it wasn't as lame as he had always thought dancing would be. Besides, with a teacher like her, how could he not like it.

Without previous warning, Lorelai let go of his neck and stayed just holding his left hand in her right hand. Luke looked at her questioningly, but she just smiled and turned herself around under his and her arm and then returned to her previous position, just holding his hand.

"What are you doing?", Luke asked her.

"We have to be creative, not just go left, right, left, right the whole night. Besides, don't tell me you have never seen a man turn a woman around like this. It's classic"

"Well, I'm sorry but, like you said, I am completely ignorant to everything that concerns dancing"

"OK, well, now that you know how it's done, let's do it again"

"The whole thing?", he asked, truly worried. As much as he enjoyed it, he felt like an idiot dancing around Lorelai's living room to no music at all.

"No, silly, just the turning around thing". She hadn't let Luke's hand go at any point during this small conversation, so now she just raised both their hands again and turned herself around once more like she had done before. When she finished, they just stood there silently, like that, holding hands, looking at each other. They couldn't find words to express how they were feeling, but they didn't have to either. To be standing there silently, hand in hand, was more than enough. Luke then took the initiative. He raised his arm and turned Lorelai around a third time. He didn't know why he did it, it just seemed right. In a normal situation, he wouldn't have had the nerve to even get as close to her as he had been that night, let alone touch her, but tonight, he felt that there was a special connection between them, that they had crossed the barrier of being friends to being something more. He didn't know exactly what, but it felt very good.

"Wow", she smiled. "It seems like you got it"

"Yeah, well, perhaps I am not as ignorant as you thought I was."

"Nah, I doubt it."

"So, can we go now, or you still want to practice some more eccentric dance moves?"

"Uh, let's see, I do have lots in mind that I want to try but I think I have put you through enough tonight, so I'll just forget about them and try them at the dance, because when we get there, my friend, you are not going to get away from me."

"Thank you, that is very considerate of you", he said, sarcastically.

"Aren't I always?", she smirked. She finally let go of Luke's hand and went to the coffee table to get her purse.

"OK, we're read. . .". She wasn't able to finish this sentence because, when she was approaching Luke, her heel decided it was a great time to break. Lorelai lost her balance completely and stumbled forwards, towards Luke, unable to get hold of the couch or of anything to regain her balance. She instead crashed into him and made him fall flat on his bottom on the floor, with her sideways on his lap.

This was probably the closest Luke had ever been to Lorelai yet. He recognized the familiar fast heartbeat that started every time she touched him, smiled at him, or even when he smelled a glimpse of her perfume, starting again at that moment. He thought he'd be able to handle it by now, but he wasn't. Every time was the same. This time, however, it was worse than before and he became afraid that Lorelai would notice it. He thought it was harder because he knew that if he leaned forward a few centimetres, very, very few, he would be able to kiss her and he would be in heaven. He knew it, and this just made it harder for him to even breathe. However, just like many times that night, he used every ounce of strength and self control in his body to keep his cool, so that Lorelai wouldn't notice.

"Ooops, um, sorry about that", she chuckled, a bit embarrassed. "I kind of lost my balance and then. . . Oh my God!" she suddenly shouted, looking down at her shoe. She hadn't realized that her heel had broken, and she noticed it just then. "My heel broke!"

"Didn't you realize that was the reason you fell in the first place?", Luke said, not being able to hide a smile. These things had a way of only happening to Lorelai and he just loved what they did to her. Not in a bad way, of course. She just looked so cute when she desperately needed someone's help, especially his.

"Well, I'm very sorry, mister, but I am not as observative as you are."

"Very true", Luke muttered, but intending for her to hear.

Lorelai smacked him playfully on the arm. "What am I going to do now? Can you fix it?", she asked him hopefully.

"Yes, I think I can"

"Very well then, fix it", she dangled the broken heel in front of his eyes.

"You do realize that it is kind of impossible given the fact that you are on top of me". Not that he minded, of course. Lorelai opened her mouth to say something, but Luke interrupted her. "Don't say 'dirty'!".

"I wasn't going to say anything", she said, in a mock innocent voice.

"Oh, yes you were"

"How do you know? Are you suddenly a mind reader? Oh my God!", she suddenly covered her forehead with both her hands. "You are reading all my thoughts right now! Close your eyes! Close your eyes!", she added in an exaggerated panicky voice.

"Of course I'm not a mind reader!", Luke scowled, but he couldn't help smiling in his insides. "You just had that twinkle in your eyes"

"What twinkle?"

"That twinkle you get whenever you are going to say something that is going to annoy the person you are going to say it to"

Lorelai suddenly smiled mischievously. Luke's insides churned. "Oh, so I annoy you?"

"You most certainly do"

"But you like it when I annoy you, don't you?"

"No, I don't"

"Yes you do, yes you do", she sang. She suddenly started tickling Luke's stomach. She didn't know why she did it, she was just in the whole "annoying mood" and she thought it was safe to play along with it. Besides, she really loved to annoy Luke.

Luke didn't fall behind. "Oh yeah?", he smiled and started tickling her stomach too, but a little more carefully than Lorelai was tickling him because he was afraid he would go into a forbidden zone, which would end that lovely tickling/flirting session they were having.

Lorelai started laughing even harder. Apparently, she resisted less the tickles than he did. She was laughing so hard that she eventually lost her balance for the second time that night (imagine that, second time, and she hadn't even had anything to drink) and fell backwards on the floor. She just laid there on her back, smiling, panting for breath, ignoring the fact that her dress was getting all wrinkled. She had enjoyed that tiny moment with Luke so much, she'd rather have it again than having her dress all pretty.

Luke sat there, next to her, smiling and panting too. He wished it would have lasted longer, that he would have had Lorelai in his arms and in his lap, so close to him, for so much longer. He looked back at her. She was smiling and staring at the ceiling, but she must have felt his eyes on her, for she immediately lowered her eyes to him.

"Wow, that was fun", she said. "Although you shouldn't get all cocky about this. Just because I fell and I'm lying here on the floor and you are sitting there, doesn't mean I didn't win."

"Oh yeah?", he smiled. He crawled up to where she was and then laid down on his stomach, on top of her. He softly grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the floor. "Who wins now?". He was shocked at himself. Where had he gotten the nerve to place himself on top of her like that? Never, in his right mind, he would have considered doing that, no matter how much he wanted to. The thing was, he wasn't in his right mind at that moment. He was never in his right mind when he was around Lorelai. The only thing he was thinking about at that moment was how much he wished to feel her body against his one more time and he saw that he could do it, so why shouldn't he?

Lorelai was a bit surprised by this sudden gesture. Luke was never that aggressive. He only got into those physical struggles with her because she started them and gave him no other choice. This time, she hadn't started anything. She had the previous struggle, but she had ended it by falling on her back. However, she didn't mind that much that Luke was on top of her. As a matter of fact, she kind of liked it. The feeling of his body against hers warmed her up from the tips of her toes to every hair in her head. Plus he smelled so good, so why complain?

"Hey!", she exclaimed. "That's abuse! You think you can take advantage of me because I'm a lady, well let me tell you something, big boy, I am much stronger than you think I am"

"I'm finding that hard to believe"

Lorelai tried to move her hands towards Luke, to start tickling him again, but he was obviously much more stronger than her and pinned her wrists back to the floor.

"Not fair!", Lorelai laughed.

"Nothing in life is fair"

"No, not even the way I'm going to kick your ass when you finally let go of me"

"We don't know when that could be"

"What? You are taking me hostage now? I don't think so, baby"

They wrestled some more and then laughed again at their silly game. They looked at each other during these laughs and Luke's heart flipped when this happened. He was now officially as close as he could possibly be to Lorelai. He could feel her body rising up and down softly with her breathing underneath him, which made him shiver inside. He could smell her delicious perfume. They just stayed there silently, slowly letting their breathing get back to normal and smiling shyly at each other.

"Luke?", Lorelai asked, breaking the silence yet again. "Why are you suddenly so quiet?"

Uh-oh, he had given himself away. He'd better come up with a very good cover story. "No, nothing, I was just thinking". Great cover story, Luke.

"Thinking? About what?", she asked, curious. What could possibly be occupying Luke's mind that much that made him drift away almost in the middle of their struggle?

"Uh, you know, nothing really", he felt his face redden. He just hoped it wasn't too obvious.

He couldn't bear it anymore. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to kiss her so badly. At that point, he didn't care that what he was going to do was probably wrong and that it might bring fatal consequences to it. The sole thought of her lips and the way they might feel in his was enough to erase all these worries from his head. He slowly reached out his left hand and gently moved a strand of her hair to the back of her ear and softly brushed his thumb against her cheek. He then slowly, very, very slowly, leaned his face forward and gently brushed his lips against hers.

Luke could have sworn he felt sparks ignite all throughout his body and he felt himself melt. God, Lorelai's lips felt so soft and tasted delicious. They were like some intoxicating drug that he wanted to taste over and over again. He even forgot his own name. All he could think about was that he was finally kissing Lorelai. That the dream he had secretly had for the past years was finally coming true. He couldn't believe his luck. And the weirdest thing of all was that Lorelai hadn't driven him away, like he thought she would. In fact, she had kissed him back and made no movement to make their mouths part.

Lorelai found herself wishing that Luke would kiss her, now that he was so close to her. She didn't know why, it wasn't even right. She was still technically dating Jason. But still, as the night had gone on, she had started to feel more and more attracted to Luke. She began to realize that she loved everything about him: the way her coffee addiction annoyed him, the way he seemed to do things for her that he would never do for anybody else, the way he cared so much about Rory. With that realization finally in her brain, she stopped thinking and just let herself get lost in the immensity of the feelings she was experiencing at that moment, which were nothing like she had ever felt before. This was different. She could feel it in the way Luke's lips gently, almost shyly, caressed her own. She felt true love in them. She started to think that that was what she felt for him too.

They broke apart at the same time, keeping their eyes closed, still lost in the rush of emotions they had just experienced. Luke's face was still very close to Lorelai's. That kiss had been too short for him, but then again, he could have stayed with his lips glued to Lorelai's the whole night and it would never have been too long. He suddenly felt the need to do it again. Her lips were like a drug and he was completely addicted to it. Lorelai hadn't seemed to mind before, so he didn't think she would mind a second kiss. So he leaned forward and kissed her again.

This time it was a much deeper, stronger and passionate kiss, not only on his part. Lorelai was also pressing harder. She loved the way Luke's lips felt and was willing to explore his mouth a bit further, since she too thought the previous kiss had been too short. She slowly slid her right hand upwards along his arm and his shoulder, until she finally reached his face, and started caressing his cheek. Then she continued to slide her hand towards the back of his neck and began running her hands through his hair. She couldn't believe how comfortable and how great it felt to be there, in Luke's arms, although he was the last person in whose arms she would have thought she would end up. No doubts about it, she thought, she was completely in love with him. How could it have taken her 4 years to realize that?

Luke was in heaven. This was more than he would ever have imagined. Please, don't let this be a dream, let it be real, he pleaded in his thoughts. As soon as he felt Lorelai's hands roaming through his body, he also felt the need to touch and caress her. He slid his left hand along her right side and then lifted her body gently so that he could run his fingers along her bare low back. Her soft skin and her delicious lips were driving him crazy. A moment later he started running out of breath and, as much as he regretted doing it, he had to break apart. Lorelai did the same and they both laid down there, panting for breath, their arms still around each other and with no desire to let go.

However, Lorelai needed to clarify their situation. "Luke?", she asked, softly. "What was that?"


	4. A stroll around Stars Hollow

Disclaimer: Again, not mine. Period.

A/N: I'm sorry I took so long in updating again. I hope you guys are still following this. And, again, thanks to everyone for your reviews. You make my day, really. :)

One last thing, this will probably be the last chapter I post in a while. This was supposed to be a 5 chapter story but I don't know if I'll have chapter 5 ready any time soon; real life is getting in the way more than I would like. I could end the story with this chapter, too. Just tell me what you think. Anyways, enjoy...

* * *

Luke suddenly felt terribly embarrassed. What he had just done was something Lorelai hadn't ever expected, or so he thought. What if she wasn't interested in him as more than just a friend and had just kissed him back so that she wouldn't hurt his feelings? His embarrassment and his insecurity grew more and more every passing second. He shouldn't have done that, he was sure of it. Lorelai hadn't liked it. Now he had given his feelings away and there was nothing he could do to hide them anymore. He wanted to run, to go far, far away and never come back. He quickly lifted his body from the floor and sat bolt upright, purposefully a bit far apart from Lorelai.

"I'm sorry", he muttered, looking down at his hands. "I shouldn't have done that, I just got carried away by the moment and then. . . I didn't mean to bother you"

He began to stand up, but Lorelai grabbed his arm and sat him back down. "Luke, I never said that the kiss bothered me", she smiled. "It was a great kiss, one of the best I've ever had. It's just that, I kissed _you_. Not that it is a bad thing, it's just that you're supposed to be my friend. Just my friend. And now I've had the most amazing kiss in my entire life and it was with my best friend. I'm totally confused, I don't know. . ."

"I love you", Luke blurted out. It was now or never, he thought. He didn't care if she hated him and didn't want to see him ever again, he couldn't believe how relieved he felt when those three words finally came out of his mouth.

Lorelai had been looking at the floor but the moment those words came out, her head jerked quickly back up. "Sorry?", she asked softly.

"It's pointless to try and hide it now, I mean, I've just kissed you twice", he looked down, embarrassed. "I'm sorry I had to tell this to you like this, out of the blue, but I was not going to tell you the old story that this was a mistake because it wasn't, at least not for me. What just happened was amazing and I'm not regretting any part of it, but I'll understand if you don't feel that way towards me".

"You. . . you love me?", Lorelai was still dazed by Luke's sudden confession. Not that she wasn't expecting something like that. After all, they had shared a wonderful kiss and neither of them seemed at all bothered or mad about it. "But. . . when? How?", she asked, a bit foolishly, but her mind was a complete blank at that moment and she couldn't think of anything more logical to say.

"I don't know, I guess one can't know the exact moment when they fall in love with someone, it just sort of happens", he looked up at her, feeling more confident now. If he had told her he loved her, he might as well continue. Lorelai didn't seem mad or worse, grossed out. She was just confused and he couldn't blame her. "But I guess it was ever since I first met you. And as for the how, well, it's really hard not to fall in love with someone like you, I mean, you are so . . . so beautiful and funny and, no matter how annoying you can be, you just have a way of getting into people's hearts".

Lorelai smiled gently. "Luke. . . that is so sweet. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just couldn't. I was so afraid that you would reject me and that I'd lose you forever, that I preferred to keep just the friendship we already had. And then of course came Max and Christopher and that's when I realized that I had lost any opportunity I ever had with you. So that's why I asked Nicole out and then eventually married her".

"And that's why you hated Max so much", she said, smiling at the memory.

"I guess my big secret is out. Look, Lorelai, I'm sorry for dumping this on you like this, but you would have found out eventually. If this is awkward for you, I'll completely understand and I'll try to arrange things so that every time you go to the diner I am not around, and I'll try not to run into you around town much, or whatever it is that will make you comfortable". He slowly stood up and lent Lorelai his hand so that she could stand up as well.

"Wait, Luke", she said, squeezing his hand gently to get his attention. "I never said or even expressed that I felt uncomfortable and that I didn't want to run into you again. That would be very sad and I positively don't want to stop seeing you or going to the diner"

"But you are just going to forget about this kiss like it never happened and you are going to tell me to do the same, aren't you?", Luke retorted, a bit angry and hurt. "You are going to tell me that this was all a mistake and that it should never have happened, aren't you?"

"No, Luke!", Lorelai said quickly. A mistake was the last thing this kiss had been and she wanted to make sure Luke knew that. "Don't put words in my mouth!"

"Then, what? Where do I stand? How are we going to act around each other from now on?"

Lorelai sighed and fell silent for a minute. She absently started caressing Luke's hand, which she was still holding in hers. Luke's stomach churned. "Look, why don't we go for a walk? I think we have a few things to talk about, don't we?"

Luke looked at her, genuinely surprised. Lorelai wanted them to go for a walk to talk about their situation? Surely, this couldn't be as bad as he thought it would be. Maybe, just maybe, a tiny little beam of hope had just appeared on the horizon. "I guess, sure, why not?"

Still holding Luke's hand, she guided them both out of the house, previously having found a note on Rory's door that said: "Hey, mom, I just saw you two making out on the floor, so I'll just go to Lane's to hang out before I go to the dance, in case it turns into something more. Good luck and congrats!". Lorelai laughed and left the letter there. Luke smiled too, although a bit nervous wondering what Lorelai's laugh had meant.

Lorelai and Luke walked around Stars Hollow in a complete silence, each lost in their own thoughts. The streets were deserted, obviously everyone was at home getting ready for the dance or actually in the dance, but neither of them could care less about it at the moment. There were more important matters to discuss. Luke stole a look at Lorelai next to him. She was looking at the floor, with her arms crossed in front of her, obviously shivering from the cold. She is so beautiful, he couldn't help thinking and repeating to himself two or three thousand times a day. He wondered what was going through her head at that moment, whether ways to turn him down without hurting his feelings or ways to tell him that she loved him too. This uncertainty was killing him.

A moment later, they arrived at the bridge over the lake and she stopped there. He felt puzzled. Why was Lorelai bringing him there?

"Lorelai, what are we doing here?"

"I just love this place at night, don't you? It's so quiet and peaceful, it's almost magical." She had that twinkle in her eyes that Luke adored.

"Well, yeah, I suppose it's kind of pretty"

Lorelai took a deep breath and turned to face him. "Luke, the reason I brought you here is because I want to tell you something really important that I just couldn't tell you at my house."

"What is it?", Luke asked, his heart throbbing dangerously in his chest. Why was she making this wait even longer?

"I. . . Luke, we. . . Geez, I don't know how to say this. . .", she laughed nervously and stared at her hands.

"Just say it. Whatever it is, just say it. I'll understand".

"Okay", she took a deep breath. "Luke, what just happened at my house was amazing. I mean, that kiss made me feel things that I hadn't felt before. So, first of all, I want you to know that I in no way regret it or wish that it never happened, OK?"

"OK", Luke answered, not so sure about where she was going from there.

"The thing is, Luke, that after this kiss I have had to rethink our relationship, because obviously we can't continue the way we were before and pretend that this did not happen, because it did"

"So what are you saying?", Luke was starting to get a little scared. She had rethought their relationship? That could only mean one thing: she didn't want them to be friends anymore.

Lorelai took another deep breath, which told Luke that she was about to say something very big and important, so he braced himself for what was coming. "I'm saying that we can't be friends anymore".

Those words stung Luke more than if he had just been pinched by a poisonous dart. His heart jumped all the way to his throat and made it impossible for him to breathe. They couldn't be friends anymore? What was that all about? After all her speech of her not regretting what had just happened, this was as good as her trying to forget about it, so why did she even say it? Why did she get his hopes very high up just to then make him fall 50 feet to the ground and break his heart yet again?

Luke tried very hard to regain his composure enough to be able to articulate a few words, because he was so mad and hurt that he couldn't even talk. "We can't be friends?"

Lorelai looked a bit scared by his reaction, so she quickly tried to fix it. "No, that's not what I meant. . ."

"Then what did you mean?", Luke finally shouted, releasing all the anger he had bottled up. Lorelai was going to hear him. He was not going to let her walk away after hurting him so badly. She had already done that quite a few times and he finally got fed up with it.

Lorelai was completely backed out by Luke's reaction. Why didn't he let her explain what she meant? He obviously had gotten a totally wrong idea of the situation. She got scared that he would walk out on her without letting her tell him how she really felt.

"Luke, this is not what you think it is, I. . ."

"Then explain it to me. Explain to me why I shouldn't think that, by telling me that we can't be friends anymore, you want me out of your life completely so that you can avoid everything that just happened and run away like you always do."

"Because it's not true!", Lorelai cried in desperation.

"Then why do you say that we can't be friends anymore? I can't think of another reason"

"We can't be friends because I love you too much to be just your friend!", she finally screamed, annoyed at his stubbornness.

Luke stopped dead in his tracks.

"What?". He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Lorelai loved him? Could that possibly be true?

Lorelai couldn't believe that she finally had let that out. She looked down at her feet in embarrassment, although there was no reason for her to feel that way since Luke had just made the exact same confession only a while ago.

"I'm sorry", she started babbling in an effort to regain control of herself. "I didn't mean to just blurt this out to you, it just sort of came out and, well. . . Not that I didn't mean it. . . God, why can't I even speak properly?". She chuckled and looked down at her feet again, at a complete loss for words.

Luke had gotten over the initial shock of finding out that Lorelai had the same feelings for him that he had been repressing for a very long time. Now he looked at her with a mixture of amusement and adoration. He had never seen Lorelai so flustered before and he smiled inwardly, thinking that he was the one that made her feel that way.

"Look, I'm sorry, if this is really uncomfortable for you then we could just, you know. . . I mean, now I could take you up on some of the offers you made me back at my house, but this time because you won't want to see me again and. . ."

While Lorelai was babbling, Luke took a step closer to her and then another until finally, they were just 5 inches apart. Lorelai was still busy looking down or at her sides to notice Luke's proximity, so Luke had to utter his second word after Lorelai's big revelation to bring her back to her senses.

"Lorelai", he whispered in a soft and kind of husky voice that definitely caught her attention. She looked up at him and suddenly realized how close they were standing. He was undressing her with his eyes and that, along with the feeling of Luke so close to her and his husky voice made her even more nervous and flustered. She wanted to kick herself. Why was she behaving like that?

They looked at each other and their eyes locked. They both started breathing heavily, their faces only inches apart, and yet neither of them made a move forward.

"Well, what are we supposed to do now?", asked Lorelai, her eyes still locked with his and her heart beating madly in her chest.

Luke pretended to give it a lot of thought. "I believe this is the part where we kiss".

"Kiss, good. That I can handle"

Luke lowered his face to hers and brought his lips towards hers for the third time that night. It was different this time though, because he now didn't have the uncertainty of how Lorelai was going to take it. He now knew that she wanted him as much as he wanted her and it was a wonderful feeling. It was also a wonderful feeling the one of Lorelai's hands gently moving up to his face and his hands wrapping around her waist. He slid them up and down, caressing the bare skin of her back, while Lorelai ran her fingers through his hair. Tentatively, Luke parted Lorelai's lips with his tongue and gently ran it over hers. He felt no reaction from her, except the one of responding to him, so he continued exploring her mouth more deeply, roaming his hands through her body while she didn't fall so far behind herself. Finally, they agreed simultaneously that they needed oxygen in order to continue living and be able to do that again, so they parted longingly.

Lorelai smiled. "Wow".

"Yeah", Luke replied, smiling as broadly in spite of himself.

"This was definitely a very unexpected end to the night, don't you think?"

"It wasn't one of my contemplated scenarios, yes", Luke nodded ceremoniously.

"Oh, so you actually made a list of the possible outcomes of this night with me?", she smiled mischievously and tilted her head, delighted to see Luke blush.

"No, I mean. . . I. . ."

Lorelai laughed and slid her hands down to his chest. "It's OK, Luke, I was just teasing. Besides, it's not like I didn't do a list of my own". It was her turn to look down and her cheeks to flush.

"Really?", he smiled and felt his heart soar.

"Why do you think it was taking me so long to get ready?", she looked up and gave him a very suggestive grin. "Which reminds me, I didn't do all that getting ready for nothing and, as much as I wish we could just stay here and carry on doing all those cheesy things that couples in the movies do in places like this, we have to go back to the dance". She disengaged herself from Luke's grasp and took his hand, intertwining her fingers with his.

"Oh, man, are you serious?", he groaned with a very angsty expression on his face.

"Hey, before any of this happened, you were still willing to go with me, so don't back out now! Nothing has changed except that, well, we can now walk in holding hands and, you know, kiss".

"That's exactly my point, now that we are. . . what we are, we are going to be the cover story in town for weeks, months even. They are not going to leave us alone and we are not going to be able to live the beginnings of our relationship in peace. I'm doing this to protect us".

"And because you don't want to appear in a suit in a Stars Hollow public event", she smiled knowingly.

Luke looked at her, surprised. "How did you. . .?"

She shrugged. "I kinda caught on a bit of the conversation. Totally unintentional, don't worry, I wasn't eavesdropping on whatever super confidential exchange you were having with Rory downstairs. So. . . shall we?", she gestured, motioning him to follow her.

Luke looked uncertain.

"Please?", she stepped towards him and planted a very quick kiss on his lips, barely touching them with her own. Seeing Luke wasn't giving her an answer yet, she leaned forward again and placed another butterfly kiss on his lips. This time, Luke tried to make it deeper and longer, but Lorelai pulled away fast enough, teasing him. "That's as good as it's gonna get until you say yes".

"You are an evil, evil woman".

"Thank you, I always appreciate compliments".

Luke sighed. "I suppose I have no other choice now, do I?"

Lorelai's face light up. She leaned forward and kissed him again, this time long and deep. "Thank you! We'll have fun, I promise". They started walking towards the town square. Luke let go of her hand and put an arm around her waist to pull her closer. She put her arm around his waist in turn and they continued like that, without saying a word, just content to be in each other's company. Luke thought it was only reasonable that he had to go through the ordeal of the dance. After all, so much luck in one night had to have a downer at some point.


End file.
